This exhibition, the first survey of Edwards' work since 1993, presents a range of his achievements including the Lynch Fragments, seminal large scale sculptures from the 1960s, as well as groundbreaking installations made with barbed-wire dating from the 1960s and 1970s. The exhibition features the recreation of Edwards' landmark 1970 barbe-wire installation for the Whitney Museum. Melvin Edwards: Five Decades will provide a new focus on the role of place in Edwards' art, encompassing his upbringing in Texas and Ohio, his artistic emergence in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, the artist's experiences in New York, and his frequent trips to Africa.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalog with a central essay by Catherine Craft.